The Gillard government risks losing its proposed school funding reforms due to the flawed practice of ambushing the states with details then attacking them if they do not sign up, former Council of Australian Governments Reform Council chairman Paul McClintock says.

Writing in today’s Australian Financial Review, he says this method of negotiation has failed before, citing former prime minister
Kevin Rudd
’s attempt to reform the health system and introduce the original mining tax.

With Western Australia ruling out an education deal and the other Liberal states – Queensland, Victoria and NSW – saying they will wait until the June 30 deadline, rather than Friday’s COAG meeting, to give an answer, Mr McClintock says making the policy a key election issue also increases the chances of failure.

Citing Mr Rudd’s bungled attempt at national health reforms in 2010, Mr McClintock says that the Commonwealth pursued its approach by giving the states little opportunity to contribute, with plans laid out at the last moment and recalcitrant states condemned for failing to embrace the new vision prior to any details or funding.

“Similar tactics were used for the national disability insurance scheme, with details lacking, long-term funding unclear, and the states attacked for being uncaring when they failed to embrace another new vision.

“The latest reform on school education funding is following the same pattern and again, failure to sign up to a surge in school resourcing is seen as unwilling to support our children.’’

Schools reforms

Under the school reforms,
Julia Gillard
said the nation’s 9400 primary and secondary schools would receive an extra $14.5 billion in funding in the six calendar years from 2014. Of this, the Commonwealth would contribute $9.4 billion and the states $4.1 billion.

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While WA is openly hostile to the policy, NSW, Victoria and Queensland cite the need to find the money as a reason for not signing up straight away.

Ms Gillard will most likely dispute Mr McClintock’s views about lack of process, given there were months of extensive consultation with the states.

But some, including Queensland, complained they did not know the final details, including how much money was involved, until they read about it in Sunday’s newspapers.

University funding cuts

Ms Gillard campaigned for the reforms in Victoria on Tuesday and Education Minister
Peter Garrett
focused on Queensland.

The federal government's controversial decision to help fund its commitment through $2.8 billion in cuts to higher education has angered the university sector and students are planning protests on Wednesday.

Ms Gillard defended the cuts, saying universities “need money but they also need great quality students".

Mr Windsor said the package was a significant achievement because it eradicated the decades-old disputes between public, private and Catholic school funding while Mr Oakeshott called the policy “the most important work of this 43rd Parliament".

Reforms a “con"

Meanwhile, Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne implied it would be long before a Coalition government restored cuts to university funding. “When you have no money it is hard to be generous and this government is leaving us with a massive deficit and a massive debt," he said.

Despite describing the reforms as a “con", Mr Pyne said a Coalition government would keep them if Ms Gillard signed a comprehensive deal. “If COAG agrees to these, this new school funding model, the Coalition won’t be tinkering with it," he said.

Later, he said: “If the states agree to this school funding model on Friday, we will consider exactly what has been agreed to and will make a decision then."